Of Sinners and Saints
by And The Adversary Succeeds
Summary: A dangerous serial killer called "Sinner" has killed more than fifty people. The only hints of his identity are videos sent to NCIS of him ranting and murdering. But now he has issued a challenge: Find the Saint, or he kills one of them. - 4th ch. up! -
1. Sinner 1

1: Sinner

A silent figure. Still like a statue. Around him hung the bodies of those he'd killed. They hung from meat hooks. Bloody and shredded. The floor was covered in blood and internal organs. Except for his shoes, he was clean. Not a speck of blood on him.

Nodding, he turned back to the video camera on the tripod behind him. He smiled dryly and leaned down, his face close to the camera.

"Well? I believe that's how many? Fifty? More?" he turned from the camera and walked over to one of the bodies. "You may be asking yourselves how someone could do something so horrid." he chuckled. "Well, it's easy. I just don't care. I'm numb, my good people." there was a large blade stuck in the side of a body. He grabbed the handle and tore it down, slicing another huge gash in the corpse.

"I'm an artist." he said, eyeing the curved blade. "A visionary. A holy killer. Servant of God. Those I kill deserve what I put them through. Deserve what you just saw." he flipped the blade around in his hand and spun, arm outstretched. The blade caught another cadaver and nearly ripped it in half. It hung awkwardly, strands of flesh, muscle, bones, and sinew held it to the lower half to the upper.

"I'm a murderer. Evil. A sinner." he dropped the blade and turned back to the camera. "I challenge you. End my spree. Are you worthy? Good enough? Smart enough? Or will you all become victims in my game." he laughed weakly. "At the risk of sounding corny, I have a game I'd like to play. The rules are similar to chess. You take out the king, you win. Your advantage: I have only me, you have pawns, knights, castles, and a king. But you're missing the most powerful piece of the puzzle."

He reached into the pocket of his black jeans and pulled out a queen piece, "You have to find the queen. Find my nemesis. You know them by the name the media has given them. Find the Saint. Only they will have the power to help you stop me. If you don't, I'll kill again, and again, and again. And in one week, I'll take one of yours. And she'll scream."

He walked right up to the camera and grinned, when he spoke again his voice sounded different, like his throat was strained when he spoke, "They always do."

_This is only the prologue. Tell me what you think. I'm going to try and finish _Vampyre's Memories _first, but that shouldn't take too long if I actually start writing it. Oh, and when I do start writing this again, any chapter titled _Sinner_ will be from the killer's point of view, and I will not sugarcoat his insanity. Those chapters will be very graphic. This story was inspired by _Dirsturbed_'s first album _The Sickness_._


	2. Like Jack

2: Like Jack

"They always do."

The voice crackled before the video stopped, the image paused on the face of the infamous Sinner. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stared quietly at the screen.

"So. We have one week before he kills one of us." Tony said from his desk.

Gibbs lifted a cup of coffee to his lips and sipped from it before saying, "He said "she"." he didn't turn to face the agent. "So unless he's very confused, he doesn't mean you."

"No offense, boss, but this guy has mutilated more than fifty people. I wouldn't say he's all there."

"Well, that doesn't change the fact he can kidnap or kill anyone he wants." Gibbs said, finally moving to sit down behind his desk. The Sinner had already killed eleven Naval officers. Their training had no affect on the situation. The places they'd vanished from showed no signs of struggle, and if there was ever blood it was the victims'.

"So if he's going for a woman . ." Tony paused, "I'm assuming Ziva?"

"Don't assume, you'll make a butt out of you and me." Ziva said, announcing her presence as she exited the elevator.

Tony sighed, "It's ass, agent David, and how the hell did you screw that one up?"

Ziva glared at him before sitting down and looking up at the screen, "The Sinner?" she asked. Gibbs nodded. "So what were you assuming about me?" she asked, looking at Tony.

"Our killer just said that if we don't find some guy called Saint by the end of the week he'll kill one of us. He pretty much said it'd be a girl." Tony linked his fingers and blinked before swiveling his chair to face McGee's desk. "Probie!" McGee sighed at the term. "Who's the Saint?"

McGee didn't look up from his computer, "The Saint appeared two months after the Sinner. A vigilante. He's the only person to come close to catching the Sinner. It says here that he's followed the Sinner wherever he's gone and has been instrumental-" Gibbs cleared his throat. "Sorry, boss." McGee said, looking up quickly.

Gibbs opened a folder and leafed through it, "How do we find him?"

McGee nodded, "Best guess, put out a message on the news. It says that he only helps law enforcement directly when it's absolutely necessary. There's a chance he'll come to us if he knew the situation."

Gibbs sighed, "Do what you have to, I want him here."

"So, we're safe from him for a week?" Ziva asked.

"That's correct, agent David." Gibbs said. "The last five people he kidnapped were wives of marines who are on active duty. Two taken from parks, one child was left, the other vanished, but we're not sure if he was kidnapped. Two others were taken from their homes, the fifth was taken from the parking lot of a gym."

Ziva leaned back in her chair, "Still random."

"He doesn't care who he kills. Just as long as he kills someone." McGee said.

"That's correct." Gibbs closed the folder. "McGee, get the video down to Abby. If there's any way to tell where he is, I want to know." he said, bringing his coffee back to his lips for another sip. The last five women had all been killed in the video. The were already beaten and scarred, but none dead yet. The last victim had vanished the previous week. In every video they had seen the same background, the same dark room, dirty windows.

But always different bodies.

McGee nodded and went to get the video. "DiNozzo, inform the local news stations that we need them to get a message out to our vigilante." Tony nodded and picked up the phone on his desk.

"And me?" Ziva asked.

"Be patient." Gibbs said.

"Right. I have only a week before he tries to murder me." she stopped. "Scratch that, before he _does_ murder me. Apparently he's good at taking people by surprise."

"The way it sounded, if we find the Saint before the deadline the threat to you will vanish."

"The way it sounded?"

Gibbs looked up at her and shrugged, "He's a psycho, Ziva. You can never be sure what the hell they'll do."

"Except in this case. We don't find the Saint, he kills me. We find the Saint, he kills more people." the mail cart turned onto their row and dropped a few letters at Tony's desk, a large package at Gibbs', and a letter at McGee's desk.

While talking on the phone, Tony picked up one of the letters and looked it over. Gibbs flipped the package on his desk right side up and looked at the return address.

There wasn't one.

Gibbs frowned and pulled out his knife. He unfolded the blade and sliced through the tape. Using the knife he opened the four cardboard folds. Inside was a white cooler with a folded sheet of paper on top. Gibbs put his knife up, pulled on a pair of latex gloves, and picked up the paper.

"What is it?" Ziva asked.

Gibbs unfolded the sheet and looked it over, "The next box comes tomorrow. Happy hunting." Gibbs dropped the note and opened the cooler. His eyes widened momentarily. "Of course."

Ziva stood and walked over to his desk. She looked into the cooler and swallowed, "Sinner?"

"Apparently." Gibbs said. Inside the cooler was chopped up pieces of flesh and bone. He picked up the box and headed for the elevator.

"Ducky?" Ziva asked.

"Ya think?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ducky, got a body for you." Gibbs said upon entering autopsy. He lifted the box with the cooler in it and dropped it on an empty table. The ME frowned and moved quickly to the box.

When he opened it he sighed, "Why, Jethro, do so many serial killers seem to have an affinity for dismembering their victims?"

"I don't know. But I want this body back together." Gibbs said.

Ducky picked the cooler up and after quickly looking it over he set it back down, "That's going to be a problem, Jethro."

Gibbs stopped mid-step on the way to the door. He nodded and turned around, "Care to tell me why?"

"Of course." Ducky said, taking a chunk of flesh out of the cooler. "Judging by the size of the pieces and the cooler, this isn't a whole body."

Gibbs nodded, "Well, the next shipment comes tomorrow."

Ducky turned to face the ex-Marine, "Are you serious?"

"Very." Gibbs said, lifting the note and dropping it beside the cooler. "Our Sinner is shipping us a victim. Don't know why."

Ducky turned back to the cooler, "You know, Gibbs, Jack the Ripper once did a similar thing. He cut out a victim's liver and then mailed half of it to the police. A note with the package said that he'd eaten the other half. Now, that makes me wonder. What if our Sinner is a fan of the infamous Ripper, I-" Ducky turned around and then sighed.

Gibbs was gone.

"Oh well." he turned back to the cooler and lifted another chunk with a bone jutting out of it. "I don't think you'll object to a lecture? Hm?"

Tony hung up the phone and rubbed his hands over his eyes, "Oh God, I hate reporters."

Ziva looked up from her computer, "Difficult?"

Tony propped both elbows on his desk and rested his chin on his hands, "Very. You know some people can be so stubborn."

"Speaking of stubborn." Ziva said. "If we do find the Saint and he agrees to help us, the FBI is going to all over us."

Tony groaned, "Right." he leaned back in his chair and placed both hands over his face.

"DiNozzo!"

"Hey, boss." Tony said, immediately sitting up.

"What do you have?" Gibbs asked, sitting down behind his desk.

"Well, local news has agreed, finally, to put out a message for the Saint. So hopefully we'll hear something by tomorrow."

"Where's-"

"Right here, boss." McGee announced, turning onto their row.

"_Good_ timing, Probie." Tony grinned, giving McGee two thumbs up.

Gibbs flashed Tony a look, "What did Abby say?"

McGee cocked his head to the side as he sat down, "That she wasn't looking forward to another one of this guys' videos," a look from Gibbs made him stutter, "buuut that she'd get right on it."

Gibbs nodded, "Good." the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up and was silent for a minute. "Okay." he said before finally hanging it up.

"What was that, boss?" Tony asked.

"Gear up." Gibbs said, standing. He opened a drawer and picked up his gun. The other three members of his team started on a routine that had eventually become second nature. "A petty officer was just found strung upside down in a park. Looks like the Sinner left us another message."

_My apologies if it's short, the chapter will get longer as the story progresses. At least, they should. And thank-you to whoever reviews the first chapter. I'll try and get a chapter out each week, as I need to start writing _Monument_ again._


	3. Anything Else?

3: "Anything Else?"

Local LEOs had already taped off the area and evacuated the park. It seemed like the kind of place a murder wouldn't happen. Green, happy. A playground with children playing and laughing. Adults and others jogging and running. Blue skies, the sun was out. Wispy clouds were scattered across the sky.

And yet someone dared to desecrate it.

Of course, Gibbs was more concerned with the sailor that had been strung upside down on a limb. The NCIS van pulled up near the crime scene and unloaded.

"So he was hung by his feet from a tree?" Tony asked. When no one answered he asked, "Why?"

"Who knows." Gibbs grunted, pushing past the agent to head for the body. A local official stopped him and Gibbs showed him him badge and ID. The officer nodded and let him pass. "When was he found?" Gibbs asked the officer.

"About an hour ago, sir." the officer said. "Runner found him, called the police. We found his wallet on the ground beneath him, it's how we managed to ID him."

The sailor was naked from the waist up. It was clear that his eyes had been gouged out, and something was carved into his chest so that it could be read from where he was hanging. Tony approached the body, raised a camera, and snapped a picture of the body from the front.

McGee approached and slowed at the sight, his eyes ran over the message carved into the victim's chest: _Only the Saint may find the reBorn_.

McGee frowned, "What's with the "B"?" he asked

"Don't know." Gibbs said, as Tony took a picture from another angle. "Maybe he can't spell."

"Very ritualistic." Ziva said, startling McGee, who hadn't heard her approach. "In a satanic cult, sort of way." she said, stepping carefully to get a better look at the body.

"Why'd he take out the eyes?" Tony asked. "Ya think it was just to torture him?"

"Probably." Ziva answered. "Judging by the videos, I'd say that's exactly why he did it."

"This makes fifty-four confirmed kills." McGee said. "Not counting Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and New Orleans."

"The Mardi Gras Massacre." Tony said, looking around in the grass surrounding the body for any traces of blood or anything that may be linked to the Sinner, though he doubted he'd find much, if anything at all. "Leave it to the psychopath to put a damper on a great holiday."

The Mardi Gras Massacre was referring to the night in New Orleans the Sinner killed the most people in the least amount of time than he ever had before. In the space of four hours he managed to slaughter seventeen people.

"Let me guess, Tony." Ziva sighed. "You just like it because of all the women flashing cameras, don't you?"

Tony feigned shock, "Ziva! You couldn't be more wrong." he thought he saw something near the tree but it turned out to be nothing. "I like it because of the great music, atmosphere, and the _drunk_ women."

"Of course." Ziva said, shaking her head. "My apologies." she caught a glint out of the corner of her eye and looked into the grass. She knelt down and picked up a silver cross on a chain. Carved into the polished metal was the word _Sinner_. "It's the Sinner, Gibbs. Definitely." she held up the chain to let him see it before bagging it.

The inscribed cross had become his trademark after Seattle. It was first used when he killed his first victim in California. The victim's eyes had been gouged out and the chain snaked through the sockets to connect within the skull.

"Got some blood over here, boss." McGee said. He was standing by a nearby water fountain. He took a picture before collecting a sample. Though he was sure it would match with the victim.

"Where the hell is Ducky?" Gibbs asked.

"Right here, Gibbs. Learn to be patient, it's a virtue." Ducky said as he approached the team.

"Never cared much for them myself." Gibbs said. "What do ya think killed him?"

Doctor Mallard sighed, "I can't say for certain now, though I doubt it was the removal of his eyes. Autopsy will probably confirm that he was alive through it. And," he looked around, "judging by the overall lack of blood, I'd say he was killed somewhere else." Ducky said.

The local officials helped to get the body onto a cart and into a body bag. The rope was bagged along with his wallet.

"Oh dear." Ducky said once able to get a closer look at the body. "Jethro, I think I know how this man died. It would also explain why there isn't any blood."

"How's that?" Gibbs asked, moving to get a closer look at the body.

The ME pointed to an ugly, red mark on the man's neck, "This is a cauterized wound, I'm sure of it. Crude, but it still serves well enough. I think this man may have died from blood loss. This wound is directly over the jugular. You did say he preferred hanging his victims from meat hooks, didn't you?" Ducky asked.

Gibbs nodded, "As far as we can tell." Ducky moved down to the end of the bag and opened it.

"Yes, you see here," he pointed to two large, jagged holes just above the ankles, "he was hung from a hook. I'm guessing the killer then slit the vein open after doing whatever he wanted beforehand. It would have been a quick death. From the look of it, I'd say this man was drained of all his blood. Explaining the lack of blood at the scene. I'll be able to tell more once I can get him on a table."

"Well, you'll get your chance soon." Gibbs said. Their time at Sinner crime scenes was always short. There was almost never any evidence. The case seemed to get more and more frustrating at every turn. They knew his voice, they had seen his face, but they still had no idea who he was. It was almost as if the Sinner didn't exist.

Gibbs needed coffee.

* * *

After returning to NCIS, the body was taken down to autopsy and the evidence sent to Abby. Gibbs didn't head down to the forensics lab until a little later.

He walked through the door holding a cup of coffee and a Caf-Pow for Abby. The forensics specialist was observing her computers. As usual, loud, irritating music was playing. Gibbs rolled his eyes as he set the Caf-Pow down by Abby and went to turn down the music. As soon as it was lowered he walked back to the array of computers.

He never pretended to be tech-savvy. And for good reason: He really wasn't. "Trying to figure out what it says?" he heard Abby tease. He smiled lightly.

"Nope. It'd give me a headache." he said. Abby grinned, the forensics expert was clothed in her usual goth attire, "What do ya got, Abbs?" he asked.

Abby sighed, "Well, I have bad new, some okay news."

"I'll go with the bad news first."

"But you've already guessed it." Abby said. She drank some of the soda before continuing. "No foreign prints on the wallet, and the cross was wiped clean. There was some blood on the inside of his jeans, near the calves above the knees, but it was his too. And there were traces of his skin on the rope." she stopped.

Gibbs waited and then shrugged, "And?"

"Well, that was the bad news."

"So what's the good news?"

"The _okay_ news, Gibbs. Don't tell me you're gonna need a hearing aide."

"Not for some time, I hope."

Abby smiled, "That's good. The okay news is that the blood McGee found . . well, I got a match but . . ."

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"Please don't be mad but . . there was a match but there was no info. No picture, no name, nothing. It was like someone completely wiped all information from the file."

"Is that possible?" Gibbs asked.

"It's possible, but . . ."

"It shouldn't happen." Gibbs said.

"Exactly."

"So for all we know it could be some terrorist who knows how to clean his file."

Abby slumped, "Oh come one, Gibbs! Don't ruin this! This may be the first real sample of the Sinner's blood _ever_ found."

Gibbs nodded, "Well don't get your hopes up. What about that video I sent down earlier?"

Abby nodded, "I went through it and found nothing. Like always. This is guy is _good_, Gibbs."

"I know that Abbs." Gibbs said, taking a sip from his coffee.

"No, Gibbs, this is different. Other serial killers have been good at hiding who they were, but I've always managed to find something. I'm awesome, Gibbs, but this guy is . . _uber_-awesome."

"So . . _really_ good?"

Abby feigned an exasperated sigh, "Yes, Gibbs."

"Okay then. Well, I need to go check on Ducky." he said starting for the door. He paused just before leaving and, turning halfway around, said, "And Abbs," she looked over her shoulder at him, "no one is better than you. You'll find something." he winked and then left. Abby giggled and went to turn her music up before going back to take a satisfying gulp from her Caf-Pow.

* * *

Ducky had already opened the victim up and started to go through the regular routine when Gibbs walked in, "Anything new to report?" he asked. Ducky's assistant, Palmer, looked up nervously at the sound of the agent's voice.

Ducky murmured something to himself, "Actually, yes." he shook his head. "This poor man was tortured in more ways than we thought." once Gibbs was standing by the autopsy table, Ducky opened the mans' mouth and pointed inside. "His tongue has been removed. And," he moved his hand down next to an ear and made a jabbing motion, "it appears that needles, or some other sharp objects, were jammed up his ears. He was deaf, blind, and unable to speak before the Sinner killed him. Also," he moved down the table to the legs, Gibbs' eyes followed the doctor's movements, "his calves were ripped open. The muscle was torn out, the rest shredded while still in his leg." he moved his hands over large tears in the legs above the knees. "The same was done here as well. The muscle and tissue was ripped away from the bone. This poor man may have suffered before he died, Jethro, but after watching one of those videos I'd say he was spared in comparison."

"A modern Jack the Ripper." Gibbs muttered.

"Yes, that's precisely what I said earlier!" Ducky declared.

Gibbs smiled and rolled his eyes, "Anything else?"

Ducky shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not."

Gibbs nodded, "That's what everyone's saying." he said as he turned to exit autopsy for the second time that day.

_Well, I got this chapter out a lot faster than I thought I would. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and much thanks to all the reviewers, your comments are very encouraging. If anyone has any criticism or advice, feel free to tell me, I welcome anything anyone has to say. The next chapter will be _Sinner 2_, so it _might_ take longer to get out. But not _too _much longer. Also,_ Sinner 2_ won't_ _be as graphic as the later ones will be. It will mostly give you an idea of how he thinks, the later _Sinner_ chapters will be the graphic ones. _


	4. Sinner 2

_DISCLAIMER!!! _

_None of the views or ideas expressed in this chapter are my own! They are merely the thoughts of a created character, not my own! And yes, these thoughts are sick! I do not recommend reading this chapter, some people may find it disturbing! Especially in later chapters!_

3: Sinner 2

The breeze is cool. The sun warm on my skin. I am sitting on a park bench and drinking a soda. I raise the cool can to my lips and sip from it. I pretend to look down and read the newspaper in my hand, but my eyes are looking up and scanning the people.

Joggers pass me by, I see families, single women. I have been tracking a marine's wife and her child for some time now. They came to the park so that she could let her daughter play.

I'm not dressed in a way that would make people suspect me as a pedophile. That's the last thing I need. I've changed my normal all-black attire for dark blue jeans, a white undershirt, a black button-up shirt with silver cufflinks, and cleaner shoes. I'm not wearing any sunglasses, I'm sitting in shade and I've found that I really don't need them anyway.

I take another sip of cola and turn the page I've been pretending to stare at for fifteen minutes. I can hear the children yelling and laughing as they play. It's an ideal scene, in a way. Some of the parents are talking while others watch their kids. Some of the parents even choose to play with their children.

I can see the daughter of the woman I'm tailing. She's five and I can tell that she'd be beautiful when older. I almost regret what I'm going to do. Almost. That feeling is dwarfed by a desire to mutilate. To tear her and her mother open and shred their insides as they scream.

I smile lightly and actually looked down at the paper. The front page had an article regarding the message NCIS sent out asking for the Saint's help. The Saint, the only person that I've let live. Eight people have come for me, seven have died. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is the ninth, and he's one of the five I've singled out, another being the Saint.

I see the woman calling to her daughter. I feel anticipation rising in me. It's almost time now. I see her daughter asking to stay longer. I can read their lips, and I smile as the mother finally relents to just a few more minutes. I hope the little girl enjoys them.

I've killed children before. At first I didn't want to, but after killing around . . fifteen? More? I found that I no longer care. That it's no harder than slaughtering adults. But, it's not as fun. They don't last as long. But their screams are far more satisfying. Also, their deaths are as necessary as any of the other people I've killed.

I do what I must, for the end result.

It's twenty minutes before the mother puts her foot down and they leave. I smile softly and slowly fold my paper as they head for the parking lot. I lay down my paper on the bench and stand. I stretch slowly, I have plenty of time.

I take a last look at the playground and laugh internally. They all got lucky. I need to keep NCIS on the case. So unless any of them have direct navy connections, they're safe.

I look back at the mother and daughter. They're close to the parking lot now. I take a breath and start off.

It's time.


End file.
